Drapery pleating and finishing machine

ABSTRACT

An apparatus is provided for forming or restoring the pleats of draperies which have been newly made or freshly dry cleaned. The drape or drapes are supported from a horizontally extending hanger bar which in turn is vertically movable on an upstanding frame. A horizontally mounted pleater bar assembly is also vertically movable on the upstanding frame. This assembly includes a pair of complementary pleater bars individually rotatable so as to facilitate the tucking of the drapery pleats into pleat forming fingers of the pleater bar assembly. Once the fabric has been properly positioned with respect to the pleater bar fingers, these fingers are movable into an interleaved condition in which the drapery may be drawn past these fingers so as to comb out the pleats. One of the pleater bars carries a double set of nested fingers which are axially displaceable along the pleater bar to lock or clamp the fabric against confronting portions of adjacent fingers of the other pleater bar assembly. This provides for effectively and neatly clamping a lower hem portion of the drapery for stretching the fabric to a desired length. This stretching operation is effected by a tension spring placed in operation by a foot operated lock and release bar assembly and by adjustable stretch stops which limit the stretching of the drapery under the spring tension. Upon finishing the drape its upper hem is quickly and easily released from drapery hooks carried by the hanger bar by a manually rotatable release bar assembly.

United States Patent" 1 Golden et al.

[ DRAPERY PLEATING AND FINISHING MACHINE [75] Inventors: Steven T. Golden, 822 Teaque Dr.,

Santa Paula, Calif. 93060; Robert C. Galloway, Simi, Calif.

[73] Assignee: said Golden, by said Galloway [22] Filed: Jan. 29, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 327,329

Primary ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Miketta, Glenny, Poms &

Smith [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus is provided for forming or restoring the pleats of draperies which have been newly made or Apr. 23, 1974 tion in which the drapery may be drawn past these fin-' gers so as to comb out the pleats. One of the pleater bars carries a double set of nested fingers which are axially displaceable along the pleater bar to lock or clamp the fabric against confronting portions of adjacent fingers of the other pleater bar assembly. This provides for effectively and neatly clamping a lower hem portion of the drapery for stretching the fabric to a desired length. This stretching operation is effected by a tension spring placed in operation by a foot operated lock and release bar assembly and by adjustable stretch stops which limit the stretching of the drapery under the spring tension. Upon finishing the drape its upper hem is quickly and easily released from drapery hooks carried by the hanger bar by a manually rotatable release bar assembly.

13 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures ammgmma 1974 38061306 sum 2 or 7 larch?- 120.5. 1, 10. I ia-.5-

PA'I'ENTEDAPR 23 m4 34806 006 SHEET 3 OF 7 mmgmms m4 3.806006 7 SHEET 6 [IF 7 DRAPERY PLEATING AND FINISHING MACHINE BACKGROUND The present invention in general relates to the formation or restoration of folds or pleats in a drapery material. Although the present invention may involve the forming of pleats or folds during the manufacture or making of draperies in the first instance, it is particularly concerned with the reshaping or finishing of drapes after they have been cleaned such as by dry cleaning.

The conditioning of soiled drapery material usually involves dry cleaning. During this type of cleaning, the material usually looses its original size, shape and finish. Dry cleaning establishments which process draperies must provide for restoring the original size, shape, fabric folds and finish as an essential part of their services.

' Primarily this finishing operation should provide for restoring the drapery folds to a smooth uniform shape. The dry cleaning process may leave the fabric wrinkled or may erase the original material folds such that rehanging of the drapes without finishing is highly unsatisfactory.

During dry cleaning the fabric may also shrink. If the drapery is rehung without sizing, it may terminate as much as l or 2 inches short of its intended length relative to the floor. If only some of the drapes have been dry cleaned, there will be a mismatch in wall length between the processed and the unprocessed material. It is thus also observed that the finishing of the drapery should also include its stretching to restore to original length.

In order for a dry cleaning establishment to handle a large volume of drapery cleaning business, it is apparent that some means must be provided for assisting in the finishing of freshly cleaned drapes. It is therefore a general objective of the present invention to provide a mechanism for this purpose.

Other machines have been heretofore proposed for finishing drapery material. For example, a U.S. Pat. No.

3,315,852 issued to Getchell et al discloses a drapery pleating, finishing and size control machine which attempts to solve the problem of finishing draperies in a dry cleaning service. Another machine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,661. However, for various reasons, these and other proposed apparatus have not been found satisfactory. The ideal machine must be successful not only from a technical standpoint in the quality of the finished drapery, but also commercially successful in terms of its cost, reliability, and ease inoperation. For example, the device disclosed in the abovementioned U.S. patent includes mechanical linkage which by its very nature is expensive to manufacture and will be likely to malfunction, such as by jamming etc.

Also,- some previous finishing machines have been found to damage the material during use. The profitability of a drapery cleaning business is obviously adversely affected by equipment which exposes the owner to liability and damage risks associated with the pro cessing of expensive draperies. Thus in addition to the above desirable traits of a finishing machine, it must have a construction which will not under any circumstances damage the fabric. If drapery damage risks can be eliminated and if the costs, including wages and equipment associated with the finishing process, can be minimized, then the dry cleaning establishment or plant can be a successful business.

SUMMARY Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for finishing draperies which is reasonably economical to manufacture and therefore to purchase; easier and faster to operate; and safer to use in terms of being less likely to damage the drapery fabric. As a result of these characteristics the machine provided by the present invention may increase the productivity and thus the profitability of a drapery dry cleaning business.

Broadly stated, the present embodiment of the invention includes an upstanding frame which carries a horizontally disposed and vertically movable hanger bar assembly for supporting an upper edge or header of the drapery. A pleater bar assembly is also horizontally disposed and vertically movable on the frame. The pleater bar assembly includes front and rear pleater bars, each carrying a plurality of spaced pleating fingers, and each being individually rotatable about horizontal axes. The rear pleater bar is manually rotatable by a crank handle between positions in which its fingers extend vertically upright and horizontally outwardly so as to facilitate and render automatic the tucking of the fabric into the pleater bar fingers. During this tucking operation the front pleater bar assembly is swung upwardly and out of the way. After completing this initial tucking the front bar may be swung downwardly so that its fingers interdigitate with the fingers of the rear pleater bar. The folds of the drapery material are interleaved therebetween. In this condition the pleater bars may be vertically displaced relative to the hanger bar so as to comb the fabric over its entire length and thus restore the drapery folds.

The drapery may be automatically stretched to size by clamping or locking a lower hem of the drape by a specially devised double lock mechanism built in to the pleater bar assembly. The front pleater bar assembly includes a pair of inner and outer nested fingers at each finger position and a mechanism for manually selectively causing axial displacement of such inner and outer fingers. Upon such displacement the nested fingers separate and lock or clamp the fabric against confronting portions of adjacent fingers belonging to the rear pleater bar. The drapery is now locked or clamped to the pleater bar assembly. Automatic stretching is provided by a foot operated lock and release bar assembly, a tension spring and adjustable stretch stops or limits. In one embodiment, the foot operated assembly applies a springtension urging the pleater bar assembly clamped to the lower drapery hem downwardly so as to stretch the fabric relative to its upper edge held firm by the hanger bar assembly. Stretching proceeds until vertical movement of the pleater bar assembly is limited by stops selectively positioned on the frame. In an alternative embodiment the tension spring is arranged in a winch system for raising the hanger bar and the stretching tension is applied to urge thehanger bar upwardly while the lower hem of the fabric is held stationary by the foot operated lock and release bar assembly.

A manually rotatable release bar assembly is carried by the hanger bar for quickly and efficiently releasing the upper edge or header of the drapery.

These and further objects and various advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DRAWINGS FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 and taken generally along the section lines IIIIII of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a further sectional view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 although here illustrating the hanger bar and pleater bar assemblies in a condition preparatory to an automatic fabric stretching mode.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing the hanger bar and pleater bar assemblies in the automatic stretch mode.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view as seen generally from VI-VI of FIG. 4 illustrating a foot operated lock and release bar assembly operative during the automatic stretching mode.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the mechanism taken generally along the section lines VII-VII of FIG.

FIGS. 80 and 8b are detail views of a releasable catch or lock mechanism forming part of the automatic stretch mechanism illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view of the pleater bar assembly shown in an unlocked condition and taken generally along the plane indicated by lX-IX of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a detailed view taken along the section lines XX of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view similar to FIG. 9, although here showing the pleater bar assembly in a locked condition in which the drapery fabric is clamped by the pleater bar fingers.

FIG. 12 is another detailed view similar to FIG. 10 taken along the section line XII-XII of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view of the pleater bars taken generally along the section plane XIII XIII of FIG. 9.

FIG. 14 is another sectional view showing a portion of the pleater bar assembly taken along the section plane indicated by XIV-XIV of FIG. 11.

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the plane indicated by XVXV of FIG. 1 and illustrating the functioning of the drapery release bar assembly.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary front elevational view of an alternative embodiment of the automatic stretching feature of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged view of a portion of the machine shown in FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a horizontal sectional view taken generally along the plane XVIIIXVIII of FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is another horizontal sectional view taken along the plane XIXXIX of FIG. 17.

DESCRIPTION In the referred to drawings there is shown an apparatus or machine 10 for pleating, finishing and sizing drapery. The presently disclosed machine 10 is primarily for finishing draperies which have been laundered or dry cleaned. Although, it is contemplated that the invention may be embodied in apparatus for pleating, finishing and sizing newly made drapes.

The drapery processing machine 10 here includes a frame constructed of a'base 11 including a brace 12 and a pair of feet 13 and 14 affixed at opposite ends of brace 12 and extending laterally thereof. Base 11 serves to support a pair of spaced apart vertical rails 16 and 17 which together with a header l8 define an upstanding frame for supporting the drapery. These components forming the upright frame may be provided by any suitable structural members. For example, rails 16 and 17 and channel 18 are here provided by closed hollowrectangular cross section members as best shown in FIGS. 2 through 5, 9 and 11. These members are joined by any suitable and known means such as by welding. Triangular reinforcing members 21 and 22 may be employed at the connection between the top of rail 16 and 17 and header 18 for strengthening the frame.

In order to support the header or upper pleated portion of the drapes, a hanger bar assembly 23 is provided. Assembly 23 may include an elongate hanger .bar 24, here an L-shaped structural member as best shown in FIG. '15, having rollers 26 and 27 at each end cooperating with vertically extending hanger bar channel guides 28 and 29. Channel guides '28 and 29 are here mounted on the inside or confronting faces of rails 16 and 17 and extend vertically therewith. Rollers 26 I and 27 carried at each end of hanger bar 24, and channel guides 28 and 29 receiving the rollers serve as means by which hanger bar assembly 23 is vertically slidable or movable on the upstanding frame of machine 10. Although channel guides 28 and 29 may extend along the full height of rails 16 and 17, these guides are here disposed only along the upper portions of the frame and terminate at lower ends 31 and 32 intermediate the frame height.

To releasably hold or support the upper pleated or header portion 30 of the drapery, hanger bar assembly 23 includes a plurality of pins or hooks 33 with the sharpened hook portion thereof sloping upwardly and to the front of machine 10. Each of hooks 33 is in turn carried by a slider 34 slidably held in a channel guide 36 mounted longitudinally on hanger bar 24 as best shown in FIG. 15 for horizontal sliding of sliders 34 and the hooks 33 carried thereby. Channel guide 36 may be secured to hanger bar 24 by any suitable means such as by the bracket 37 shown here bolted to bar 24 and to which channel guide 36 may be affixed by suitable means such as by welding.

To facilitate the attachment of drapery 15 on hanger bar assembly 23, books 33 may be linked ,by a flexible ribbon or web 38 along which sliders 34 are fastened at equal longitudinal intervals. Thus, when web 38 is stretched to a taut condition hooks 33- are disposed at a typical or standard longitudinal separation for receiving the header or upper pleated portion of drapery 15.

In this instance machine 10 is equipped with two separate sets of hooks 33. For the widthof drapery 15 as shown here, a first set 41 carries the drapery while a second set 42 is shifted over to one side of hanger bar assembly 23. Of course the number of hook sets can be varied in accordance with the intended use of machine 10.

Hanger bar assembly 23 further includes a manually rotatable drapery release bar assembly 43. By the provision of assembly 43, quick and easy release of the drapery from hooks 33 is possible. Assembly 43 includes an elongate release bar 44 having laterally extending arms 46 and 47 at each end thereof mounted to assembly 23 for spaced parallel rotation of bar 44 relative to the horizontally extending axis of the hanger bar assembly.

The construction and operation of release bar assembly 43 is best illustrated in FIG. 15. Assembly 43 is here mounted to hanger bar 24 with the ends of lateral arms 46 and 47 pivotally joined to hanger bar assembly 23 about an axis 48 disposed to the rear and in this instance slightly below the hanger bar assembly. An inverted L-shaped bracket 49, having an upper leg fastened to hanger bar 24 by suitable means, here by bolting, provides pivotal axis 48 at its lower leg.

Arms 46 and 47 may be provided with a slight elbow bend to dispose release bar 44 toward drapery 15. Arms 46 and 47 should have adequate length relative to the placement of pivotal axis 48 so as to dispose bar 44 below the lower extremities of hooks 33 by several inches. Also, the length of bar 44 should be selected relative to the width of a typical drapery header, when in its closed condition, so as to extend on either side of the drapery as shown in FIG. 1. In this manner the junction of bar 44 and either of arms 46 and 47 may be used as a manually engageable handle accessible from the front of the machine.

Bar 44 is thereby manually movable from a normal inoperative position downwardly depending to the rear of drapery 15 as shown by the solid line position in FIG. 7

15 to a forward operative release position shown in phantom. The operative release position is reached-by swinging bar 44 in the direction of hooks 33, here forward to the front of machine 10, causing the bar to engage the drapery below the hooks. Continued forward and upward swinging of bar 44 releases drapery 15, especially the pleated header portion thereof, off of hooks 33.

It is observed that hooks 33 are mounted with their sharpened hook portions facing to the front of machine 10. Accordingly, release bar assembly 43 is mounted to the rear of hanger bar assembly 23'so that bar 44 may be swung from behind drapery 15 to the front of the machine engaging the drapery and effecting the desired release thereof off of books 33. Should hooks 33 be mounted differently, such as with the' sharpened hook portions facing to the rear of machine 10, then of course release bar assembly 43 would be mounted accordingly to allow release bar 44 to move in the direction of the pointed hook ends.

In processing drapery 15 in accordance with the operation of machine 10, it is desirable to vertically raise and lower hanger bar assembly 23 within the machine frame. During such raising and lowering assembly 23 will at times carry the weight of the drapery 15. Accordingly, hanger bar assembly 23 is vertically displaceable by a hoist means here provided by a reversible hoist motor 51 rotatably driving a winch shaft 52 journaled within the hollow portion of header 18. Ca

of cables 53 and 54 on winch shaft 52. Suitable electro- I mechanical limit switches (not shown) may be provided to prevent overrun of assembly 23 by motor 51.

A pleater bar assembly, generally indicated at 61, serves to comb out the folds of drapery 15 and by virtue of a drapery locking feature to stretch the drapery fabric to a desired length or size. Pleater bar assembly 61 here includes a first or front pleater bar 62 and a second or rear bar 63. These pleater bars are horizontally mounted on a pleater bar carriage means formed of carriers 64 and 66 positioned at opposed ends of the pleater bars. Carriers 64 and 66 are each vertically movable along and within vertically extending pleater assembly channel guides 67 and 68 mounted similarly to guides 28 and 29 on the inside or confronting faces of rails 16 and 17. In this instance pleater bar assembly 61 and channel guides 67 and 68 are disposed for vertical reciprocation of the pleater bar assembly between an upper position, as shown in FIG. 1, lying immediately below the lower travel limit of hanger bar assembly 23, i.e., adjacent ends 31 and 32 of guides 28 and 29, and a lower position adjacent base 11 of the machine frame.

Each of pleater bars 62 and 63 is provided with a plurality of wire loop pleating fingers 71 and 72 respectively, mounted at spaced longitudinal points along each bar. The pleating fingers on one of the bars are spaced alternately relative to the fingers on the complementary bar such that the pleater bars may be disposed as shown in FIGS. 3 and 9 with the various fingers interdigitated or interleaved for combing the drapery folds.

In particular, both pleater bars 62 and 63 are rotatably or pivotally mounted about horizontal axes 73 and 74 respectively by means such as front pleater bar pivot pins 76 and 77 and rear pleater bar pivot pins 78 and 79 supported by carriers 64 and 66. Rear pleater bar 63 is constructed and rotatably arranged to facilitate the relative placement of its fingers 71 with respect to the pleats and folds of drapery 15. It will be observed that the pleating fingers of the pleater bar assembly must be properly positioned with respect to the drapery pleats so as to comb out the original material folds. In other words, a dry cleaned fabric will retain some of its original folds, and the finishing machine should not attempt to alter the position of these folds but should merely straighten or comb them out. Pleater bar 62 by its construction and operation automatically provides for the proper positioning of its pleating fingers.

Bar 63 is rotatable from a starting position in which its fingers 71 extend generally upright as shown in FIG. 2, to a finishing or combing position in which these fingers extend horizontally and forwardly of machine 10 as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. A manually operable crank handle 81 connected to pleater bar 63 provides for manually selective rotation thereof between the starting and finishing or combing positions.

Preferably the wire loop pleating fingers 71 of bar 63 are each formed with a portion 282, which when bar 63 is in the starting position as shown in FIG. 2, extend forwardly of the bar, protruding forwardly of a front edge 283 of the pleater bar. protruding portions 282 of the pleating fingers facilitate the tucking of the drapery folds into place relative to the rear pleater bar 63 during placement of the fabric on the machine. This operation is more fully described herein in connection with the preferred use of the machine. After completing this tucking process, pleater bar 63 may be manually rotated by handle 81 to move fingers 71 forwardly and downwardly to a horizontal and forwardly extending position in which the drapery pleats are automatically properly set relative to pleater bar 63 and the entire pleater bar assembly 61.

Fingers 71 may be formed of looped wire or small diameter rod stock, and are fixed mounted on bar 63, which may be threaded, passed through a transverse opening and secured by threaded fasteners as at 80 while the other end may be secured in a deadend hole as at 84.

Rear pleater bar 63 may be releasably locked in its starting position, corresponding to the orientation shown in FIG. 2, by rotating handle 81 forwardly and upwardly from its solid line position shown in FIG. 1 to the phantom position also shown in FIG. 1. On the upswing of handle 81, a leg 82 thereof is cammed laterally outwardly of rail 16 by a camming surface of a catch 83 to cause leg 82 and thus handle 81 to be releasably locked between a rearwardly facing surface of catch 83 and a front facing surface of a bracket 86.

With handle 81 so latched, pleater bar 63 is disposed in the starting position shown in FIG. 2 with the pleating fingers thereof extending substantially upright. Handle 81 is somewhat flexible to afford the camming action on catch 83 and to permit manual release of the handle off of the catch to rotate pleater bar 63 to the starting position with the fingers thereof extending horizontally and forwardly of the machine.

With handle 81 released, pleater bar assembly 63 swings by gravitational force to assume a stable orientation, shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, in which the center of gravity of the bar generally underlies its pivotal axis 74. In this position handle 81 also swings generally downwardly and slightly forwardly of the machine as best shown in FIG. 7. During processing of the drapery,

bar 63 may be oscillated slightly about its pivotal axis to improve the combing action of the pleater bar assembly as more fully described herein. During the clamping of the drapery also as described herein, pleater bar 63 is prevented from rotation by the clamping action of the pleating fingers associated with pleater bar 62.

Front pleater bar 62 is provided with horizontally extending pivotal axis 73 disposed forwardly and vertically above axis 74 of bar 63. Bar 62 is pivoted about axis 73 by a pair of lateral arms 87 and 88 which dispose the axis of bar 62 in spaced paralellism with the rotational axis 73. Pins 76 and 77 pivotally support the ends of arms 87 and 88 opposite their connection to bar 62. Fingers 72 of bar 62 are mounted so that they mesh or interdigitate with fingers 71 of bar 63 when front pleater bar 62 is swung downwardly by gravity into the combing position as shown in FIGS. 3,4 and 5.

During hanging of drapery on hanger bar assembly 23, front pleater bar 62 may be swung upwardly to an out-of-the way or retracted position shown in FIG.

2. After drapery 15 has been properly hung and rear pleater bar 63 rotated to automatically position fingers 71 relative to the pleats and folds of the fabric, then front pleater bar 62 may be rotated to the combing position with its fingers 72 interdigitated with fingers 71 and with the folds of the fabric interleaved therebetween as best shown in FIG. 9. This combing orientation of pleater bar assembly 61 is also shown in FIG. 3.

During this combing action assembly 61 may be vertically displaced on the machine frame. For this purpose each of carriers 64 and 66 forming the pleater bar assembly carriage means may be provided with a plurality of rollers, such as rollers 91 and 92 of carrier 64 as shown in FIG. 7. Carrier 66 is similarly provided with a pair of rollers, one of which is shown as roller 93 in FIG. 1. These pairs of rollers each cooperate with an interior raceway provided by channel guides 67 and 68 for smooth vertical reciprocation of the pleater bar assembly. In this instance guides 67 and 68 extend from base 11 to an upper extremity just underlying the lower ends 31 and 32 of hanger bar guides 28 and 29. Thus, in this instance the travel of pleater bar 61 is limited to the lower half portion of the machine frame.

Movement of pleater bar assembly 61 maybe motorized or, as in the present case, manually moved'by merely grasping and raising or lowering the assembly on its carriage tracks. This manual displacement may be assisted, as in the present embodiment, by a counterweight 96 vertically reciprocating within rail 17 and attached to the pleater bar assembly 61 by a cable 97 as shown in FIG. 1.

In addition to the drapery combing function of pleaterbar assembly 61, this assembly also includes means for clamping or locking a lower hem portion 102 of drapery 15 for the purpose of stretching the fabric to a desired size or length. In general, this is provided by constructing one of the pleater bars, in this instance pleater bar 62, with axially shiftable inner and outer normally nested pleating fingers 72a and 72b, as shown in FIG. 13.

These normally nested inner and outer fingers carried by pleater bar 62 may be axially shifted to assume a clamping or locking condition as shown in FIG. 11 in which assembly 61 is locked or clamped to the lower hem portion 102 of the drapery fabric. With assembly 61 so clamped or locked to the hem of the drape, stretching is accomplished by tensioning the fabric between hanger bar assembly 23 and pleater bar assembly 61.

Outer pleating fingers 72b, each of which may be formed of a looped wire or small diameter rod, stock are fixedly mounted on pleater bar 62, which may be formed of wood. One end of each finger may be threaded and passed through a transverse opening in pleater bar 62 and secured to the bar by threaded fasteners as at 104. The other end of finger 72b may be retained within a dead end hole formed in bar 62 as at 106.

Inner nested 'fingers 72a may be formed similarly to outer fingers 72b, although on a smaller scale. These inner nested fingers 72a are mounted on a manually operable shift bar assembly 107 as shown in FIGS. 6, 8, 9 and 1 1, where this assembly includes an elongate shift bar 108, a manually operable toggle lever 109 and a link 111 connecting bar- 108 with lever 109;

With reference to FIG. 13, shift bar 108 is mounted longitudinally with pleater bar 62 and is axially or longitudinally slidable relative thereto. Bar 108 may be provided by a channel member having outwardly turned edges 112 slidably carried by lateral guides 113 secured to the side of pleater bar 62 by suitable means such as screws 114. As in the case of outer pleating fingers 72b, one end of inner pleating finger 72a may be threaded, passed through a mounting hole in bar 108 and secured thereto by suitable threaded fastening means as at 116. The other finger end may be retained within a mounting hole formed in bar 108 as shown at 117.

By this arrangement shift bar 108 may be selectively axially positioned relative to pleater bar 62 to dispose the inner fingers 72a in nested coplanar vertical alignment with the larger outer pleating fingers 72b as shown in FIG. 9. In this orientation fingers 72a and 72b function as a coplanar unit interdigitated with the pleating fingers 71 of rear pleater bar 63 for combing out the folds of the fabric. The pleating fingers carried by the front and rear pleater bars are in this condition axially spaced so as to allow the drapery fabric to flow freely through the fingers in a combing operation.

From the normal nested coplanar orientation of inner I and outer fingers 72a and 72b, bar 108 may be relatively axially shifted by toggle lever 109 to dispose the pleating fingers in the positionshown by FIG. 11. In this position, the fabric is locked or clamped between the various pleating fingers. As will be seen the shifting of bar 108 causes not only a relative separation between the fingers 72a and 72b carried by pleater bar 62, but also a relative axial displacement of the front and rear pleater bars 62 and 63.

This axial separation of the normally coplanar inner and outer pleating fingers 72a and 72b affords an advantageous double locking of the fabric, normally the drapery hem, in that each fold of the drapery is clamped on both sides of each pleating finger 71. In other words, rather than locking or clamping the fabric merely between a single set of pleating fingers 72b and 71 as at 118 in FIG. 11, the additional inner and normally nested fingers 72a serve to clamp the fabric on the other side of each finger 71 as at 119.

In effect, the drapery material is double locked in the pleater bar assembly so that the fabric in each leg of the fold is stretched to a uniform length at the lower hem portion 102. Moreover, the double clamping or locking of the material is achieved by a purely translational movement of the various pleating fingers into the clamped condition so as not to damage the fabric by calizing stretching, pulling or twisting.

In operation mechanism 107 positions inner fingers 72a in a nested coplanar relationship with outer fingers 72b by raising toggle lever 109 to a vertical raised position as shown in FIG. 9. Also the raised vertical position of the toggle is shown in phantom in FIG. 7. One end of lever 109 is pivoted about a horizontal pivot pin 121 journaled within a bearing 122 mounted on the end of front pleater bar 62. A manually engageable handle or knob 123 may be provided at the opposite end of toggle lever 109. Lever 109 is connected to shift bar 108 for axial displacement of the latter by an elongate connecting link 111. One end of link 111 is pivotally connected to an end of bar 108 as shown at 124 while the other end of link 111 is pivotally connected to tog-- gle lever 109 intermediate the ends thereof.

To lock or clamp pleater bar assembly 61 to the drapery, especially the lower hem portion 102 thereof, toggle lever 109 is rotated from its raised vertical position in FIG. 9 laterally outwardly and through a horizontal position to a locked or latched condition slightly below the horizontal. The latched or locked condition is shown in FIG. 6, 7 and 11. The offset pivotal connection at 126 between link 111 and toggle lever 109 causes bar 108 to be shifted toward the toggle lever.

This shifting is greatest as toggle lever 109 passes est displacement of link 111 and bar 108 exists. Contin- I ued rotation of toggle lever 109 downwardly from the horizontal position, whilelink l 11 is still under tension, allows the mechanism to lock in a stable condition on stop 127.

As toggle lever 109 is rotated toward the locked condition, bar 108 causes inner pleating fingers 72a to engage and abut against the fabric on one side of pleating fingers 71 as at 119. This engagement of fingers 72a and one side of fingers 71 causes pleater bars 62 and 63 to be forced in opposite longitudinal directions as indicated by arrows 131 and 132. Further rotation of lever 109 toward the horizontal position forces bars 62 and 63 in the relative directions indicated by arrows 131 and 132 until outer pleating fingers 72b and the opposite lateral portions of pleating fingers 71 abut against the fabric as at 118. The relative longitudinal movement of bars 62 and 63 is afforded by some axial play in pleater bar 62 by virtue of its mounting arms 87 and 88.

Pleater bar assembly 61 may be released from the double locked condition by rotating toggle lever I09 upwardly through the horizontal orientation and to its raised vertical condition as shown in FIG. 9. During such rotation, shift bar 108 moves inner fingers 72a back to the normal nested and coplanar relationship with outer fingers 72b. Also this releases the relative longitudinal displacement between bars 62 and 63 causing the pleating fingers to resume their normal axial spaced combing configuration as shown in FIG. 9.

With the lowerhem portion 102 of drapery 15 clamped to pleater bar assembly 61, tension is applied to stretch the drape by a foot operated catch and release means or mechanism 134 anchored to base 11 of the machine frame and including a pair of drapery tensioning springs 136 and 137. In general, mechanism 134 serves to apply a downwardly directed tension force on assembly 61 while it is clamped to the lower edge of the drapery and while the upper pleated edge of the drapery is fixedly supported by hanger bar assembly 23.

For this purpose, assembly 61 is manually lowered in channel guides 67 and 68 to a position shown by FIG. 4. Toggle lever 109 is operated to clamp the pleating fingers of assembly 61 to hemmed portion 102 of the drapery adjacent the bottom thereof. Mechanism 134 includes a pair of spring and catchmeans on each side of the frame and as is shown in FIG. 1.

Only one of these will be described as the other is identical. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 a catch portion 141 is formed at one end of an elongate member 142 longitudinally slidable within a tubular member 143.

Tension spring 136 is an elongate coil coaxially mounted about members 142 and 143 and having its opposite ends individually secured to these members. Thus, elongate member 142 having the catch portion 141 at the upper end thereof is telescopically slidable within member 143 with tension spring 136 continuously urging retraction of member 142.

Tubular member 143 is anchored to base 11 by components of mechanism 134, here including a rotatable shaft 144 extending across the width of machine and journaled at opposite ends in bearings 146 and 147 secured to base 11. Tubular member 143 extends generally upwardly and radially of rod 144 and is fixedly secured thereto by suitable means such as welding. Thus rotation of rod 144 causes an amplified rotational movement of catch portion 141.

Foot operated mechanism 134 further includes a foot bar 148 mounted in spaced paralellism with rod 144 by an angle arm portion 149 fixedly secured to rod 144 by means such as welding. In this instance foot bar 148 is angularly displaced on rod 144 with respect to members 142 and 143 such that foot bar 148 is positioned forwardly and outwardly of machine 10 while members 142 and 143 extend substantially upright as best shown in FIG. 7.

Foot bar 148 provides a foot operated mechanism for moving catch portion 141 on member 142 into a position for locking or catching on a dog 15] fixedly mounted on carrier 64 of pleater bar assembly 61. Catch portion 141 is here provided with a hook configuration for releasably catching on dog 151. With catch portion 141 hooked on dog 151 tension spring 136 is connected to and for applying a downwardly directed force on assembly 61 for tensioning the drapery.

A corresponding dog 153 is provided on the other side of assembly 61 for cooperating with a catch portion 145 similarly to portion 141.

Spring 136 is placed in tension by first locking catch portions 141 and 145 on dogs 151 and 153 while assembly 61 is clamped to the hem of drape 15. Thereupon motor 51 is operated by switch 56 to raise hanger bar assembly 23. The drapery is initially tensioned and thereupon the entire assembly 61 is urged upwardly under the pulling force of the drapery. A selected amount of upward displacement of assembly 61 may be provided by carefully controlling the motorized hoisting of hanger bar assembly 23. This selected vertical displacement of assembly 61 extends and tensions spring 136.

Mechanism 134 may include a'spring means for biasing catch portions 141 and 145 away from'dogs 151 and 153. Here such means is provided by a leaf spring 152, shown in FIG. 7, continuously urging the angle portion 149 of foot bar 148 upwardly with respect to base 11. This tends to rotate rod 144 to effect the desired biasing of the catch portions away from dogs 151 and 153 and in this instance toward vertical rail 16. The normal or biased orientation of the catch portions is illustrated in phantom in FIG. 8b.

From the normal or biased position catch portion 141 and 145 may be rotated to catch or hook on dogs 151 and 153 by pressing foot bar 148 downwardly from the phantom position of FIG. 7 to the solid line position also of that figure.

Assembly 61 is lowered as shown by the phantom position in FIG. 6 so that dogs 151 and 153 on carrier 64 and carrier 66 are in a horizontal plane below catch portions 141 and 145. Then, by stepping on foot bar 148 and rotating the catch portions forwardly of machine 10 each catch portion may be disposed as shown in catch portion 141 in FIG. 8b in a position vertically overlying dog 151. Hanger bar assembly 23 may now be raised by operating switch 56 which in turn draws assembly 61 vertically upwardly until dog 151 hooks under catch portion 141 as shown in FIG. 8a. Now, foot bar 148 may be released and the tension of springs 136 and 137 will hold the catch portions 141 and 145 in place on the associated dogs. Further upward travel of hanger bar assembly 23 increases the tension on spring 136.

The amount of applied tension on drapery 15 and the extent to which the fabric is stretched may be set by adjustable stop means, here provided by a manually operable locking mechanism 156 as shown in FIGS. 7, 9 and 11. Mechanism 156 includes a locking member 157 having an elliptical or oblong cross section for selectively wedging between confronting inturnededges 158 and 159 of channel guide 67. Member 157 is fixedly connected to one axial end of a pin 161 transversely slidable within an elongate vertical slot 162 formed in carrier 64 as best shown in FIG. 7. Fixedly disposed at the other axial end of pin 161 is a transversely extend ing manual lever or handle 163 and a tape measure pointer 164.

Mechanism 156 may be locked by manually grasping handle 163 and lifting it upwardly from a position at rest on. a stud 166 to rotate a major diameter portion of member 157 from a clearance orientation as shown in FIG. 10 relative to guide edges 158 and 159 to a gripping or looking orientation as shown in FIG. 12. With member 157 locked on channel guide 67, pin 161 serves as a stop pin cooperating with an upper end 167 of slot 162 to limit downward movement of carrier 64 and pleater bar assembly 61 as shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 illustrates the abutment of pin 161 against the upper end of slot 167 with mechanism 156 in its locked condition. Also in FIG. 7 mechanism 156 is shown in phantom to illustrate its unlocked condition resting on stud 166.

Accordingly, locking mechanism 156 serves as an ad justable drapery stretch stop means which may be positioned on channel guide 67 so as to limit the amount of downward stretching of the lower end portion 102 of drapery 15 by limiting the lowermost position of pleater bar assembly 61. A retractable measuring tape assembly 169 may be employed to retractably extend a measuring tape 171 as shown in FIG. 1 between hanger bar assembly 23 and pleater bar assembly 61 to measure the length of the drapery and set a desired stretch limit therefor.

In operating machine 10 hanger bar assembly 23 is driven to its lowermost position by operating motor switch 56. Then as shown in FIG. 2, front pleater bar 62 is swung outwardly and upwardly so as to afford access to hooks 33 for hanging drapery 15 thereon. Also as shown in FIG. 2, rear pleater bar 63 is manipulated by handle 81 to its starting or tucking position with fingers 71 standing upright and portions 282 of fingers 71 protruding forwardly for receiving the tucks and folds of the fabric. The spacing of fingers 71 and protruding portions 282 thereof are employed to position the pleats of drapery 15 during the hooking operation.

After drapery 15 has been fully hung, handle 81 is released from catch 83 to rotate the fingers of rear pleater bar 63 forwardly so as to automatically cause these fingers to follow the pleats and. residual-folds of the drapery. Now, front pleater bar 62 is swung forwardly and downwardly so its fingers 72 mesh or interdigitate with the rear pleater bar fingers. This position is shown in FIG. 3. Handle 81 may be briskly rotated several times to oscillate pleating fingers 71 so that the pleats and folds of the fabric fall into proper place.

Switch 56 is now turned on again this time to raise hanger bar assembly 23 with drapery 15 attached thereto. While the drape is rising, it may be fanned vigorously by the operators hand so that the fabric flows freely through the interleaved and spaced pleating fingers. As assembly 23 continues to rise as, shown in FIG. 3, the pleats and folds are neatly reformed in a combing action. Rear pleater bar 63 may be again oscillated by handle 81 to straighten the folds and lining of the drapery.

When the hanger bar has risen to a point which supports the lower edge of drapery 15 above base 11, then pleater bar assembly 61 may be manually pushed from its position as shown in FIG. 3-downwardly to its position shown in FIG. 4. Simultaneously, the fabric may be manually fanned for uniform combing action. Assembly 61 should not be lowered below the hemline of the fabric.

Typically stretching of the fabric to a proper length will be required. For this purpose assembly 61 is manually adjusted to place the lower curved portions of 'fingers 71 and 72, corresponding to the protruding portions 282 of fingers 71, even with the hemline of the drapery. Togglelever 109 is moved to partially clamp the fabric between fingers 71, 72a and 72b. If the drape has shrunk unevenly, the fabric may be pulled to place each fold in a uniformly even position while partially clamped. Toggle lever 109 is now manipulated to its fully locked position as shown in FIG. 6.

Hanger bar assembly 23 is lowered by operating switch 56 so as to vertically displace pleater bar assembly 61 to its lowermost position on guides 67 and 68. Foot bar 148 is now depressed by the operators foot and held in the depressed condition while switch 56 is intermittently operated to drive hanger bar assembly 23 upwardly again several inches. This will cause dogs 151 and 153 of assembly 61 to catch in catch portions 141 and 145 and tension springs 136 and 137. Foot bar 148 may now be released as the catch portions are held in place on the dogs by the tension within the springs.

Tension springs 136 and 137 are extended by a desired amount, such as 2 to inches to place drapery After banding, pleater bar assembly 61 may be slipped off the lower hem portion of the drapery.

To release drapery 15 from hooks 33,- the closed header portion is shifted to a position at which it is centered relative to release bar 44. Bar 44 or one of lateral arms 46 or 47 thereof may be manually grasped and pulled forward of machine 10 as shown in FIG. 15 to ,urge the header of drapery 15 off of books 33.

With reference to FIGS. 16 through 19 an alternative automatic stretching embodiment is illustrated in which primed reference numerals are used to denote corresponding parts of the machine described above in connection with FIGS. 1 through 15. In this embodiment the spring for tensioning drapery 15' is integrated into a winch system 176 for raising and lowering hanger bar 24'.

In this system only one spring 177 is used in lieu of the pair of springs 136 and 137 of the above described embodiment. By the use of a single spring mounted as illustrated as part of the hanger bar winch system 176, an even tension is applied to the fabric of drapery 15 even though it is not centered relative to the frame of machine 10'. Foot operated lock and release bar assembly 178 is provided at the base of machine 10', however in this instance without the provision of the spring biased telescoping hook member. In place thereof a single rigid, generally upstanding elongated member is provided at each end of the rotatable rod 144', wherein the lefthand elongatedrigid member 179 is shown in FIG. 16 having a catch portion 181. Member 179 and its complement (not shown) on the righthand side of the machine 10' function with their associated catch portions to selectively lock and release the vertically slidable pleater bar assembly in a manner similar to the operation of the first described embodiment. However, in this instance the foot operated lock and release bar assembly when engaged functions to anchor the pleater bar assembly in a fixed, stationary position relative to the base of machine 10'. The tension on drapery 15 is applied by raising hanger bar 24' relative to the anchored pleater bar assembly.

Spring 177 may be provided with a lower end 182 secured to vertical rail 16' and with an upper end 183 fastened to a slider 184 of a V guide and slider assembly 186 mounted for vertical reciprocation on rail 16.

Winch system 176 includes a double pulley 187 mounted for rotation on slider 184. In this manner double pulley I87 and slider 184 are movable as a unit on V guide 188, with tension spring 177 continuously urging guide 184 and double pulley 187 downwardly on guide 188. Guide 188 may be secured to rail 16' by suitable means, such as the screw means 189 illustrated in FIG. 19.

Winch system 176 may further include a winch motor 191 and associated winch drum 192 about which a double cable 193 is wound. Motor 191 may be selectively operated by switch 56' in a manner similar to the operation of motor 51 by switch 56 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 through 15.

Double cable 193 is extended around a double pulley 194 mounted for rotation on vertical rail 16 in a horizontal plane vertically elevated relative to double pulley 187 and spring 177. From pulley 194 the double cable 193 is extended downwardly to and around double pulley 187 and from there upwardly to laterally spaced apart single pulleys 196 and.l97. Pulleys 196 and 197 are positioned to extend double cable 193 as individual cable components to and for attachment to hanger bar 24. i

In operation the automatic stretching mode is enabled by lowering pleater bar assembly 61' until catch portions 181 of the foot operated lock and release bar assembly 178 can be articulated to engage the complementary dogs (see dogs 151 and 153 of FIGS. 1 through 15). This engages and anchors pleater bar assembly 61' at a fixed elevation with respect to the base of machine Winch motor 191 may now be operated by switch 56' so as to raise hanger bar 24 upwardly. Double cable 193 is thereby wound on drum 192 drawing the hanger bar 24' upwardly. At the same time a certain amount of tension is established in cable 193. This tension is applied to and for extending spring 177 by means of doublepulley 187 movable vertically upwardly with slider 184 on guide 188.

It is observed that the amount of tension force applied to drapery by raising hanger bar 24 is bal anced by the tension force in spring 177. In this manner a desired amount of tension can be uniformly applied to the width of drapery 15' for automatically stretching the fabric.

When so tensioned, drapery 15 may be steamed. Steaming tends to relax the fabric allowing it to be stretched under the applied tension. The amount of stretching is automatically determined by prior setting of an adjustable slidable stop means mounted along with slider 184 on V guide 188. In this instance the slidable stop means is provided by a slider 198 mounted on guide 188 overlying slider 184 and provided with a manually operable lock lever 199. To select the desired amount of stretching, stop 198 is moved to a desired point, such as determined by an index scale 201 which may be provided on guide 188, and locked in place by manipulating lever 199. As the fabric relaxes under steaming and the tension of spring 177 causes stretching of drapery 15', the tension of cable 193 relaxes. This allows double pulley 187 and slider 184 to slide upwardly on guide 188 until reaching stop 198, whereupon further stretching is inhibited.

Since numerous changes can be made in the above described exemplary embodiment of the invention and other embodiments can be realized without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that the foregoing descriptive material and accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for pleating and stretching draperies in which an upstanding frame carries a horizontally disposed hanger bar for securing an upper end of a drapery, the combination therewith of a pleater bar assembly comprising: I

a pleater bar assembly carriage means vertically movable on said frame;

first and second horizontally disposed elongated pleater bars mounted on said carriage means, the second pleater bar having a plurality of longitudinally spaced laterally outwardly extending pleating fingers, said first pleater bar having a plurality of longitudinally spaced laterally outwardly extending inner and outer nested normally coplanar pleating fingers alternately mounted relative to said second pleater bar fingers to assume an interdigitated relationship for combing the drapery therebetween; and

manually operated means for selectively axially shifting said inner and outer nestedpleating fingers of said first pleater bar for clamping the folds of the drapery on both sides of said second pleater bar fingers by the inner and outer fingers of said first pleater bar, whereby a lower hem of the drapery may be neatly and uniformly locked by the fingers of the pleater bars on both sides of each drapery fold.

2. In the apparatus of claim 1, said manually operated means of said pleater bar assembly comprising a shift bar longitudinally slidably mounted relative to said outer pleating fingers of said first pleater bar, said inner pleating fingers. mounted on said shift bar for axial shifting relative to said outer pleating fingers, and a manually engageable and lockable toggle lever mounted on said first pleater bar for shifting said shift bar and inner pleating fingers carried thereby relative to said outer pleating fingers. v

3. In the apparatus of claim 2, said shift bar being slidably mounted on said first pleater bar, and said toggle lever including a link member connected to one end of said shift bar for axially shifting said shift bar between an unclamped condition in which said inner pleating fingers are in nested coplanar relationship with said outer pleating fingers and a clamped condition in which said inner and outer fingers are relatively displaced along the axis of said first pleater bar and in which said toggle lever is releasably locked 'to maintain such relative displacement of said inner and outer fingers. v

4. In the apparatus of claim 1, said pleater bar assembly further defined'by said first and second pleater bars being mounted on said carriage for limited relative longitudinal displacement, and said toggle lever being effective to shift said inner pleating fingers to engage the pleating fingers of the second pleater bar and thereby cause relative longitudinal displacement of the first pleater bar with respect to the second pleater bar so as to force the outer pleating fingers of the first pleater bar against the opposite sides of the pleating fingers of the second pleater bar.

5. In the apparatus of claim 1, said pleater bar assembly further defined by said first and second pleater bars being mounted to the front and rear respectively of the apparatus, said second pleater bar being rotatably mounted to said carriage means about a horizontal axis for rotation between a starting position in which the fingers of said second bar extend generally upright and a combing position in which such fingers extend horizontally and forwardly of the apparatus, said first pleater bar also being rotatably mounted on said carriage means about a horizontally extending axis spaced forwardly and vertically above the second pleater bar horizontal axis for pivotal rotation between a raised out-of the way position vertically above said second pleater bar and a lowered operative position in which said first pleater bar is swung downwardly with its pleating fingers facing horizontally rearwardly and interdigitated with the pleating fingers of said second pleater bar.

6. In an apparatus for pleating and stretching draperies having an upstanding frame carrying a horizontally disposed hanger bar for releasably supporting an upper end of the drapery with the lower drapery portions depending downwardly therefrom, the combination therewith of a pleater assembly comprising: a pleater assembly carriage vertically movable on said frame; a front elongated pleater bar having spaced laterally outwardly extending pleating fingers; a rear pleater bar having laterally outwardly extending fingers alternately spaced relative to said front pleater bar fingers for interleaved combing of the drapery; pivotal means supporting said front and rear pleater bars on said pleater assembly carriage, said pivotal means including means for rotating said front pleater bar about a horizontal axis between a raised inoperative out-of the way position and a lowered operative position with its pleating fingers extending generally horizontally rearwardly, and said pivotal means further including means for pivotally supporting said rear pleater bar about a horizontal axis spaced parallel with said front pleater bar horizontal axis for rotation between a starting position in which said rear pleater bar fingers extend generally vertically upright for receiving tucks of the drapery fabric and a combing position in which said rear pleater bar is rotated to extend its pleating fingers generally horizontally forwardly in interdigitated relationships with said front pleater bar fingers; and handle means for rotating said rear pleater bar between said starting and combing positions and means for locking said handle means with said rear pleater bar in said starting position.

7. In the drapery pleating and stretching apparatus of claim 6, said rear pleater bar constructed to define a forwardly facing front edge when said bar is in said starting position, and said pleating fingers having portions which protrude forwardly of said front edge of said bar when in the starting position so as to facilitate the tucking of the drapery folds into place.

8. In the apparatus of claim 1, the combination further including an automatic stretching mechanism comprising:

a foot operated catch and release means anchored to said frame and including a drapery tension spring;

an adjustable drapery stretch stop means for stopping said movable carriage means relative to said frame; and dog means affixed to said assembly carriage and cooperating with said catch and release means for releasably connecting said drapery tension spring so as to tension and stretch the drapery relative to said hanger bar, whereby said pleater bar fingers may be clamped to the lower portion of the drapery and said foot operated catch and release means operated to apply a tensioning force to the lower edge of the drapery to stretch the fabric to a predetermined length determined by said adustable drapery stretch stop means. 9. In a pleating machine having an upstanding frame, a hanger bar for supporting an upper end of a drape and a pleater bar assembly vertically slidable on said frame and having means for clamping said assembly to a lower edge portion of the drape, the combination therewith comprising:

a foot operated catch and release means anchored to said frame;

spring means for continuously urging said hanger bar and pleater bar assembly vertically apart;

an adjustable drapery stretch stop means; and

dog means affixed to said pleater bar assembly and cooperating with said catch and release means for releasably enabling said spring means to tension and stretch the drape between said hanger bar and pleater bar assembly whereby the drapery may be stretched to a predetermined length selected by setting said adjustable stop means.

10. In the pleating machine of claim 9, said foot operated catch and release means comprising an elongated rotatably mounted rod anchored to a lower portion of said upstanding frame, a foot bar fixedly secured to the rotatable rod for rotating said rod by foot actuation, a tubular member affixed to said rotatable rod and extending radially outwardly therefrom, an elongate member telescopically slidable within said tubular member and having a hooked catch portion at the free end thereof for cooperating with said dog means, said spring means including a tension spring connected between said tubular member and said elongate member for continuously urging retraction of said elongate member telescopically into said tubular member, and means for biasing said rotatable rod to an angular position at which said elongate member and hooked catch portion thereof is rotated away from said dog means on said pleater bar assembly, whereby said pleater bar assembly may be vertically lowered to a position in which said hooked catch portion of said elongate member may be moved into cooperative relationship with said dog means by operating said foot bar.

11. In the pleating machine of claim 9, the combination further comprising;

winch means having a cable for raising said hanger bar on said upstanding frame, said spring means including a tension spring for tensioning said cable of said winch means whereby said catch and release means provides for releasably anchoring said pleater bar assembly to enable said tension spring of said spring means to establish a tension force in the drape upon raising said hanger bar with said winch means.

12. In theapparatus of claim 1, the combination further comprising:

an elongate drapery release bar having laterally extending arms at opposed endsthereof, said release bar arms being pivotally mounted to said hanger bar for spaced parallel rotation of said release bar relative to said hanger bar between a normal inoperative position and a drapery release position in which such release bar engages said drapery at an upper hooked end thereof so as to unhook it and release the drapery from said hanger bar.

13. In an apparatus for pleating and stretching drapery having an upstanding frame, a hanger bar horizontally mounted on said frame for releasably hooking an upper end of said drapery, and a pleating assembly horizontally mounted on said frame for interleaved pleating of the drapery, the combination therewith of an elongate release bar having laterally extending arms at opposed ends thereof, said arms pivotally mounted to said hanger bar for spaced parallel rotation of said release bar relative to said hanger bar between a normal inoperative position and a drapery release position in which such release bar engages said drapery adjacent an upper portion thereof unhooking it from said hanger bar. 

1. In an apparatus for pleating and stretching draperies in which an upstanding frame carries a horizontally disposed hanger bar for securing an upper end of a drapery, the combination therewith of a pleater bar assembly comprising: a pleater bar assembly carriage means vertically movable on said frame; first and second horizontally disposed elongated pleater bars mounted on said carriage means, the second pleater bar having a plurality of longitudinally spaced laterally outwardly extending pleating fingers, said first pleater bar having a plurality of longitudinally spaced laterally outwardly extending inner and outer nested normally coplanar pleating fingers alternately mounted relative to said second pleater bar fingers to assume an interdigitated relationship for combing the drapery therebetween; and manually operated means for selectively axially shifting said inner and outer nested pleating fingers of said first pleater bar for clamping the folds of the drapery on both sides of said second pleater bar fingers by the inner and outer fingers of said first pleater bar, whereby a lower hem of the drapery may be neatly and uniformly locked by the fingers of the pleater bars on both sides of each drapery fold.
 2. In the apparatus of claim 1, said manually operated means of said pleater bar assembly comprising a shift bar longitudinally slidably mounted relative to said outer pleating fingers of said first pleater bar, said inner pleating fingers mounted on said shift bar for axial shifting relative to said outer pleating fingers, and a manually engageable and lockable toggle lever mounted on said first pleater bar for shifting said shift bar and inner pleating fingers carried thereby relative to said outer pleating fingers.
 3. In the apparatus of claim 2, said shift bar being slidably mounted on said first pleater bar, and said toggle lever including a link member connected to one end of said shift bar for axially shifting said shift bar between an unclamped condition in which said inner pleating fingers are in nested coplanar relationship with said outer pleating fingers and a clamped condition in which said inner and outer fingers are relatively displaced along the axis of said first pleater bar and in which said toggle lever is releasably locked to maintain such relative displacement of said inner and outer fingers.
 4. In the apparatus of claim 1, said pleater bar assembly further defined by said first and second pleater bars being mounted on said carriage for limited relative longitudinal displacement, and said toggle lever being effective to shift said inner pleating fingers to engage the pleating fingers of the second pleater bar and thereby cause relative longitudinal displacement of the first pleater bar with respect to the second pleater bar so as to force the outer pleating fingers of the first pleater bar against the opposite sides of the pleating fingers of the second pleater bar.
 5. In the apparatus of claim 1, said pleater bar assembly further defined by said first and second pleater bars being mounted to the front and rear respectively of the apparatus, said second pleater bar being rotatably mounted to said carriage means about a horizontal axis for rotation between a starting position in which the fingers of said second bar extend generally upright and a combing position in which such fingers extend horizontally and forwardly of the apparatus, said first pleater bar also being rotatably moUnted on said carriage means about a horizontally extending axis spaced forwardly and vertically above the second pleater bar horizontal axis for pivotal rotation between a raised out-of the way position vertically above said second pleater bar and a lowered operative position in which said first pleater bar is swung downwardly with its pleating fingers facing horizontally rearwardly and interdigitated with the pleating fingers of said second pleater bar.
 6. In an apparatus for pleating and stretching draperies having an upstanding frame carrying a horizontally disposed hanger bar for releasably supporting an upper end of the drapery with the lower drapery portions depending downwardly therefrom, the combination therewith of a pleater assembly comprising: a pleater assembly carriage vertically movable on said frame; a front elongated pleater bar having spaced laterally outwardly extending pleating fingers; a rear pleater bar having laterally outwardly extending fingers alternately spaced relative to said front pleater bar fingers for interleaved combing of the drapery; pivotal means supporting said front and rear pleater bars on said pleater assembly carriage, said pivotal means including means for rotating said front pleater bar about a horizontal axis between a raised inoperative out-of the way position and a lowered operative position with its pleating fingers extending generally horizontally rearwardly, and said pivotal means further including means for pivotally supporting said rear pleater bar about a horizontal axis spaced parallel with said front pleater bar horizontal axis for rotation between a starting position in which said rear pleater bar fingers extend generally vertically upright for receiving tucks of the drapery fabric and a combing position in which said rear pleater bar is rotated to extend its pleating fingers generally horizontally forwardly in interdigitated relationships with said front pleater bar fingers; and handle means for rotating said rear pleater bar between said starting and combing positions and means for locking said handle means with said rear pleater bar in said starting position.
 7. In the drapery pleating and stretching apparatus of claim 6, said rear pleater bar constructed to define a forwardly facing front edge when said bar is in said starting position, and said pleating fingers having portions which protrude forwardly of said front edge of said bar when in the starting position so as to facilitate the tucking of the drapery folds into place.
 8. In the apparatus of claim 1, the combination further including an automatic stretching mechanism comprising: a foot operated catch and release means anchored to said frame and including a drapery tension spring; an adjustable drapery stretch stop means for stopping said movable carriage means relative to said frame; and dog means affixed to said assembly carriage and cooperating with said catch and release means for releasably connecting said drapery tension spring so as to tension and stretch the drapery relative to said hanger bar, whereby said pleater bar fingers may be clamped to the lower portion of the drapery and said foot operated catch and release means operated to apply a tensioning force to the lower edge of the drapery to stretch the fabric to a predetermined length determined by said adustable drapery stretch stop means.
 9. In a pleating machine having an upstanding frame, a hanger bar for supporting an upper end of a drape and a pleater bar assembly vertically slidable on said frame and having means for clamping said assembly to a lower edge portion of the drape, the combination therewith comprising: a foot operated catch and release means anchored to said frame; spring means for continuously urging said hanger bar and pleater bar assembly vertically apart; an adjustable drapery stretch stop means; and dog means affixed to said pleater bar assembly and cooperating with said catch and release means for releasably enabling said sprinG means to tension and stretch the drape between said hanger bar and pleater bar assembly whereby the drapery may be stretched to a predetermined length selected by setting said adjustable stop means.
 10. In the pleating machine of claim 9, said foot operated catch and release means comprising an elongated rotatably mounted rod anchored to a lower portion of said upstanding frame, a foot bar fixedly secured to the rotatable rod for rotating said rod by foot actuation, a tubular member affixed to said rotatable rod and extending radially outwardly therefrom, an elongate member telescopically slidable within said tubular member and having a hooked catch portion at the free end thereof for cooperating with said dog means, said spring means including a tension spring connected between said tubular member and said elongate member for continuously urging retraction of said elongate member telescopically into said tubular member, and means for biasing said rotatable rod to an angular position at which said elongate member and hooked catch portion thereof is rotated away from said dog means on said pleater bar assembly, whereby said pleater bar assembly may be vertically lowered to a position in which said hooked catch portion of said elongate member may be moved into cooperative relationship with said dog means by operating said foot bar.
 11. In the pleating machine of claim 9, the combination further comprising; winch means having a cable for raising said hanger bar on said upstanding frame, said spring means including a tension spring for tensioning said cable of said winch means whereby said catch and release means provides for releasably anchoring said pleater bar assembly to enable said tension spring of said spring means to establish a tension force in the drape upon raising said hanger bar with said winch means.
 12. In the apparatus of claim 1, the combination further comprising: an elongate drapery release bar having laterally extending arms at opposed ends thereof, said release bar arms being pivotally mounted to said hanger bar for spaced parallel rotation of said release bar relative to said hanger bar between a normal inoperative position and a drapery release position in which such release bar engages said drapery at an upper hooked end thereof so as to unhook it and release the drapery from said hanger bar.
 13. In an apparatus for pleating and stretching drapery having an upstanding frame, a hanger bar horizontally mounted on said frame for releasably hooking an upper end of said drapery, and a pleating assembly horizontally mounted on said frame for interleaved pleating of the drapery, the combination therewith of an elongate release bar having laterally extending arms at opposed ends thereof, said arms pivotally mounted to said hanger bar for spaced parallel rotation of said release bar relative to said hanger bar between a normal inoperative position and a drapery release position in which such release bar engages said drapery adjacent an upper portion thereof unhooking it from said hanger bar. 